What Counts as Literacy....

It was not until after I completed my paper did I realize that even the title of the article "Online R U Really Reading?" speaks to a new dialect of language that has evolved with the onset of the online world. The "texting" language that has evolved in the last few years has given different meaning and as well as created new words we now use in day to day language and communications.  We are constantly encouraged to work to engage and incorporate diverse learners and cultures into lesson planning and course content.  Being able to manage, utilize and engage in an electronic world is important in today's day and age-for learning as well as in business.

Literacy is not just understanding how to read, write and analyze, but also how to engage and think.  It should not matter what the context or environment is in which we engage students. As educators, we should be able to adapt to the environment in which material can and is presented.  In addition, as assessors and evaluators we should be able to recognize the opportunity that the online environment brings to literacy and continuing education.

I found it a bit ironic that this article debated the effectiveness of literacy in an online forum as presented to an online class.  Certainly there is value in engaging online, and allowing individuals to demonstrate skills like research and web navigation (both of which are vital business traits today) while conversing, analyzing, participating, reading, qualifying sources, and writing about them.  These are all activities that we do in traditional classrooms via traditional means-reading from a book, classroom discussions, and submission of papers/quizzes/tests to demonstrate knowledge. There is a tremendous value in not only understanding online literacy, but in applying what makes it so appealing to our learning and instructional styles and approaches.